Residents may ask council to reconsider Otley Road cycle path

Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents’ Association (Hapara) could launch a petition that asks North Yorkshire County Council to reconsider the next phases of the Otley Road cycle path.

The first phase was completed, save for some remedial works, earlier this year and runs from Harlow Moor Road to Arthur’s Avenue.

It has been welcomed by some as a long-overdue investment into the town’s cycling infrastructure, but for others, its execution has been poor.

There has been widespread criticism over the design of phase 1, which weaves on and off a pavement that is partly shared with pedestrians.

In its latest newsletter published this week, Hapara poured scorn on NYCC’s claim that the cycle path will reduce motor traffic and said there is little prospect of it being used by more cyclists due to its design.

It added:

“We have already seen that phase 1 has the effect of reducing pedestrian facilities, whilst at the same time Otley Road is as busy as ever with traffic.”

The newsletter says consultation with residents and businesses has so far been a “token” gesture with those affected by the route “not allowed their voice” in the development of the scheme.

It asks residents if it supports Hapara gathering a petition that asks the council to “reconsider the whole approach to this cycle path” and undertake a “proper consultation”.

‘Needs to be completed’

Phase 2 will continue the path towards Beech Grove and plans for how it will look were published along with phase 1 in 2019.

The plans show one tree will be felled below Victoria Road and some grass verges down both sides of Otley Road will be tarmaced over to make way for the cycle path. Like phase 1, the path will be shared with pedestrians.

NYCC previously said work on phase 2 would begin in spring 2022, which has now been pushed back until this summer.

Kevin Douglas, chair of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said he disagreed with Hapara that another round of consultation was needed.

He said this will slow down the progress of the route which “needs to be completed at the earliest opportunity”.

Mr Douglas said work to complete phase 1 hasn’t been finished due to “poor project management” by the council, which has put some cyclists from using the £2m route.

He added:

“The initial concept was awarded funds for a single scheme from Cardale Park to the Prince of Wales roundabout. If that had been done it would have made a greater impact in encouraging new cyclists due to it being a safe environment.

“We would urge Hapara to lobby NYCC to progress all remedial works on Phase 1 and deliver the remaining phases to the government standards so the work on getting people out of their cars for short journeys (school, town etc) can be promoted.

“A further consultation will add nothing other than further delays and with the proposed housing developments that will increase the pressure on Otley Road.”

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Walking the route

Liberal Democrat councillor for Harlow & St Georges, Michael Schofield was elected in May.

His day job is landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub, where the cycle path will eventually go past if phase 3 ever sees the light of day.

Cllr Michael Schofield

Last Thursday, Cllr Schofield invited Conservative cabinet member for highways, Cllr Keane Duncan, to walk phase 1 with him so he could voice his concerns.

In May, Cllr Duncan took over the highways brief from the retiring Don Mackenzie, who for many had been the public face of the Otley Road cycle path.

Cllr Schofield said:

“I was lucky enough that Cllr Duncan accepted my invite to walk the current cycle path with me to see the issues. I feel it was a positive meeting because he saw for himself some of the issues residents have raised with myself such as having a speeding cyclist whizz past us, to seeing the disjointed layout of the route and the anxieties of vulnerable residents on Swinton Court.

“I hope he takes this away to evaluate before pushing the plan for Phase 2 and 3.”

Council’s response.

Melisa Burnham

Responding to Hapara, Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at NYCC, said:

“Three representatives of Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents Association attended our recent stakeholder meeting in May and we have offered a separate meeting and walkthrough.

“We paused phase 2 to undertake this event, where we consulted stakeholders on the details of phase 2. We will be carrying out further consultation for phase 3 when we have detailed designs.

“Their concerns will be considered in the final safety audit of the route in July. We acknowledge the required improvements at the Harlow Moor Road junction, which will be addressed as soon as we have access to the third party land. We continue to listen to their views which will shape our plans going forward.”

Fears for trees in next Otley Road cycle path phase

Fears have been raised that work to build the next phase of the Otley Road cycle path in Harrogate will cause permanent damage to mature trees.

A meeting about the cycle path was held last night at Harrogate Grammar School between North Yorkshire County Council officers and local groups, including Harlow & Pannal Ash Residents Association, Zero Carbon Harrogate, The Stray Defence Association and Harrogate District Cycle Action.

The first section between Harlow Moor Road and Arthur’s Avenue was completed in January.

Work on the next phase from Arthur’s Avenue to Beech Grove have been earmarked to begin in autumn.

Yesterday’s two-hour meeting was not open to the media but we spoke today to some of the people that attended.

‘Can’t afford to lose the trees’

Plans for phase one and phase two of the cycle path were first published in 2019.

Officers delivered a presentation on the plans for phase two last night, which remain largely the same as the 2019 proposals.

These show one tree will be felled below Victoria Road and some grass verges down both sides of Otley Road will be tarmacked over to make way for the cycle path, which will be shared with pedestrians and built close to two rows of large trees.

The trees and verges on Otley Road are technically part of Stray land. Last year Harrogate Borough Council agreed a land swap with a section of grass on Wetherby Road so the cycle path could proceed.

Judy d’Arcy Thompson, chair of the Stray Defence Association, called the first section of cycle path on Otley Road, which has been widely criticised for its design, “a dog’s dinner”.

She said the 100-year-old trees on Otley Road were vital for absorbing water during heavy rainfall, adding:

“I’ve sought repeated assurances they will not create any damage to the trees. Those trees are on Stray land. They are protected by the law and they are a huge environmental asset to the town. We can’t afford to lose the trees.”

‘Pure scaremongering’

Malcolm Margolis, a Harrogate District Cycle Action member, said he needed more time to study the plans but any suggestion workers would damage trees on Otley Road was “pure scaremongering”.

He said:

“It is regrettable if a tree has to be lost, if this is unavoidable as part of a high quality cycle path. No doubt it will be replaced with new saplings nearby. We have previously asked North Yorkshire County Council to consider a 20mph speed limit and narrowing the carriageway, which might avoid tree loss.

“The suggestion that more may be lost if workers dig into the roots is pure scaremongering. Similar suggestions were made about phase 1 but the only trees that went were those in the plans, and almost all of those were for changes to Harlow Moor Road, which were purely to benefit drivers, not cyclists or pedestrians.”

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‘Preserve beauty of town’

Otley Road resident Chris Dicken has been an outspoken critic of the scheme since it was first proposed several years ago. He said “there’s no doubt Otley Road will be spoiled” by its next phase.

“It will change the ambience. It’s a very nice tree-lined boulevard.

“Trees have roots that go everywhere. How do you make sure they don’t damage those trees for the future? It won’t show up immediately but it could affect the trees. How do you get around that?”

Michael Schofield, the newly elected Liberal Democrat county councillor for Harlow & St Georges, said the council needed to ensure no trees are damaged:

“The last thing we want is for someone to be doing work and to accidentally dig into the roots. Those trees do take up a lot of water. They help that.

“The trees give Harrogate an identity. It’s one of the reasons people come to visit. We need to preserve the beauty of town.”

Government guidelines

New government guidance on cycle lanes in July 2020 said any new infrastructure should be “high quality, with a strong preference for segregated lanes”.

It warned against councils building routes that require a lot of stopping and starting from cyclists.

But the guidance was introduced after the designs for phase one and phase two were published, so it doe snot apply to these sections.

The Stray Ferret was offered an interview with Melisa Burnham, NYCC highways area manager. But today the offer was retracted.

Instead it issued the following statement from Ms Burnham

 “As part of our planning for Phase Two of the Otley Road cycle route we invited a range of stakeholder groups from across Harrogate to contribute their views and ideas on the project.

“They included the Ramblers Association, the Youth Parliament, Civic Society, residents associations, Stray Defence and the Cycle Action group. North Yorkshire councillors who represent the area also attended and the event resulted in positive and constructive discussions between group members and officers responsible for designing the scheme.

“County Council officers, alongside Harrogate Borough Council colleagues, explained the role Otley Road will play in creating a sustainable transport corridor, which will help provide residents with better choices for their travel needs.

“We also took the opportunity to update attendees of Phase One progress and the outstanding remedial work, including resurfacing, signage relocation and lining. This will be complete in June. Advanced notification will be sent to the residents indicating a confirmed start date.

“The design for Phase Two has not changed significantly since the first engagement in 2019 but we wanted to take this opportunity to discuss this again in person with the groups present.

“Key themes which emerged included the need to consider all sustainable transport users (cyclists, walkers and buses) of the routes and a recognition of the competing priorities of all users, the impact on the surrounding area, trees and Stray. We will ensure contractors are aware of the need to protect trees through the use of appropriate working methods.

“Some present raised concerns around communications for the Phase One delivery and they have been taken on board. Work on Phase One took place during the Covid-19 restrictions, which meant at times programmes moved at an unexpected pace.

“We also took the opportunity to share the Phase Three feasibility study, but this is not at a detailed design stage and further consultation will take place as that develops. Issues around the segregation of pedestrians and cyclists, set against the availability of land, have yet to be addressed.

“We hope that this meeting provided a positive start to addressing the communication concerns and a ‘meet the contractors’ event will follow in early autumn, before Phase Two works commence.”

Next phase of Otley Road cycle path delayed and reviewed

North Yorkshire County Council has said it will review the design of the second phase of the Otley Road cycle path in Harrogate.

It follows criticism of the first phase from Harlow Moor Road to Arthurs Avenue/Cold Bath Road, which was completed in January.

Some businesses, pedestrians and cycle groups, including Harrogate District Cycle Action and Hedgehog Cycling, have expressed concerns over the design of the cycle path, particularly that some parts are unsegregated and shared with pedestrians.

Safety concerns for cyclists have also been raised about the Harlow Moor Road junction.

The council previously said it hoped to start work on phase two, which will extend the path to Beech Grove, in April.

But a news release yesterday was more vague, saying work was due to begin at some point in “the next financial year” whilst it takes another look at the designs.

A contractor to build phase two is yet to be appointed.

New guidance

New government guidance on cycle lanes in July 2020 said any new infrastructure should be “high quality, with a strong preference for segregated lanes”.

It warned against councils building routes that require a lot of stopping and starting from cyclists.

The guidance was introduced after the designs for phase one and phase two were published in November 2019.

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Council officers met with members of Harrogate District Cycle Action for a “walk-through” of the route last month to listen to their concerns and take on board feedback for phase two.

Creating a safe route

Melissa Burnham, area highways manager at the council, said it recognised there may be parts of the route where the 2020 government guidance “cannot be fully applied”.

Ms Burnham said officers would meet local groups again to review the designs of phase two “in light of this new guidance”.

Work on phase one finished in January.

A council spokesperson stressed that this review would not put the project in doubt, but they did not give further details of what changes might be made, or if they would involve more trees being felled on Otley Road to make room for segregated lanes.

Ms Burnham added:

“We recognise the new cycling guidance and the benefits this brings to users. Where there are such constraints along Otley Road we use the guidance as a starting point to create a safe route.”

The third and final phase, connecting Cardale Park, relies on developer funding and will require detailed planning, including a feasibility study.

Harrogate cycle group accuses Tesco of greenwash

Harrogate District Cycle Action has accused Tesco of greenwash over claims that its proposed new supermarket will reduce car journeys and CO2 emissions.

A Tesco online consultation about its plans to open a supermarket on Skipton Road closed yesterday.

The consultation website claims the new supermarket would reduce car journeys across Harrogate because residents in all the new homes on Skipton Road and Killinghall would have less distance to travel for shopping.

It adds:

“This new supermarket will help create more sustainable shopping patterns in Harrogate and reduce the number of long car journeys across the town.

“We anticipate a reduction in CO2 emissions from the shorter trips customers will be making.”

But HDCA, which campaigns for better cycling provision in the district, said on its website:

“That is greenwash, and based on nothing more than a far-fetched hope, or the desire to say something about sustainability without doing anything about sustainability.

“While some people might make shorter trips to Tesco, it is equally likely that other people will drive to Tesco from the other side of town, going further than before.

“The plans put forward by Tesco are totally car-centric. Doing the same as before will get the same result as before: ever more traffic.”

 

How the site would look

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Better cycling access

Plans for the new store include a petrol station, 200 parking spaces, 24 cycle spaces and a new roundabout on Skipton Road. Tesco says 100 new jobs would be created.

HDCA said segregated, protected cycle tracks on either side of Skipton Road, linking up to the new housing estates, would improve cycle access to the supermarket. It would also like to see the number of car parking spaces reduced.

The Stray Ferret asked Tesco to respond but we did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Tesco previously said:

“Our new proposals will deliver a much-needed new food store for the north of the town. This will reduce the number of long car journeys across Harrogate and we anticipate a reduction in CO2 emissions from the shorter trips customers will be making.”

Consultation ended 

A public consultation on the new Tesco ended yesterday. A full planning application is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.

Despite opposing Tesco’s bid to build a new supermarket on the site in the 2010s, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce told the Stray Ferret the housing landscape in the area has now changed and the supermarket could reduce traffic across town.

The Stray Ferret also spoke to Claire Lewis, who has run Number One Shop on Electric Avenue, near the proposed new supermarket, for the last seven years with her husband. She opposes the plan and fears the new supermarket, which would be built behind her small shop, could destroy trade.

When will big charity balls return to the district?

Charity fundraising events in the Harrogate district have been slowly returning.

But whilst the smaller events have successfully returned, such as HELP‘s Nidderdale walk or Saint Michael’s ‘Go Purple’, the big set-piece charity balls are yet to return.

The balls play a vital role in the annual fundraising calendar for many charities – often raising significant amounts of money. Such as the Firecracker Ball, which raised over £250,000 in 2019.

Claire Mills who’s partner, Tony Furlong, received end of life care from Saint Michael’s Hospice, has organised one of the first balls to return.

The event named ‘The Tony Furlong Memorial Ball’, will take place at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, on Friday, November 5. It has already sold over 150 tickets at £60 per person.

Ms Mills said:

“I am looking forward to welcoming friends, family and colleagues of Tony to the ball, I am hoping that we raise a huge amount for St. Michael’s Hospice whilst remembering Tony and sharing some great memories. Tony loved to attend a black tie ball, particularly as he spent his career managing hotels and I am sure everyone attending will do him proud by having a fantastic evening, particularly after such a challenging year, I think everyone is ready for a party.”

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Other annual charity balls, such as the Barnardo’s Firecracker Ball, Martin House’s Glitter Ball, and the Candlelighters Ilkley Ball – have not been confirmed to be returning this year.

The Glitter Ball, though, is scheduled for May next year at Rudding Park. 

Sara Cracknell, senior events fundraiser at Martin House Children’s Hospice, said:

“We are excited to announce that the Martin House Glitter Ball will return to Rudding Park Hotel on Friday 6th May 2022, hosted by Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson.”

“The Glitter Ball is our most glamorous fundraising event, and also our biggest – in 2019 it raised over £172,000.”

The Ilkley Candlelighters Ball, will not return in 2021, with 2022 still under review. In past years the ball has raised upwards of £52,000 in donations.

Alison Clay, chairman for the Ilkley Candlelighters Ball, said:

“With rising costs and dwindling returns, year on year, and the current situation we all find ourselves in, we are fearful this type of event will ever happen again! I sincerely hope and pray that this is not the case as the charity provides an invaluable resource for patients and their families in the most dire of circumstances and I urge all our supporters, past and present, to do their utmost to make sure that the Ilkley Candlelighters Ball continues for many years to come.”

For more information about the ‘The Tony Furlong Memorial Ball’, contact: cmills@classiclodges.co.uk and to support Claire’s fundraising for Saint Michael’s click here.